My PR and marketing work helping adult brand reach audiences has made one thing very clear. The brands most likely to succeed in the current economic, political and social climate are the ones marketing more than just sex. They are being radically honest about what pleasure products truly do for people and what they actually provide in everyday life: stress relief, intimacy support, comfort, confidence and connection. Maybe even a moment of control in a world that feels increasingly precarious.
That shift is important. When grocery bills go up and the world feels unpredictable, shoppers naturally cut back on extras. They may also feel emotionally drained even before opening Instagram, making it harder to attract and hold their attention. In this situation, pleasure products can lose their allure if they are seen as frivolous splurges for only a small, wealthy audience. That’s why they need to be positioned as practical tools that address real physical and emotional needs.
Real opportunity still exists if you are more precise, more empathetic, more inclusive and more trustworthy in the way you communicate with your audience.
This strategy is not about exploiting hardship or disguising a sales pitch as self-help. It’s about communicating the truth more clearly. A bottle of quality lube can genuinely help a couple reconnect when stress limits their energy for intimacy. A new toy might help someone reclaim their body after burnout, illness, grief or a long period of disconnection. These aren’t shallow use cases. They are legitimate ways people manage stress, build intimacy and find small moments of joy.
Know Your Customer
With the old language starting to lose its impact, it is increasingly evident that selling fantasy alone is no longer enough. Yet much adult marketing still targets only a narrow group: young, adventurous, highly online and ready to spend. This excludes large segments of people who are highly relevant to this category.
Stressed millennials are balancing job insecurity, family duties and digital fatigue. Overwhelmed caregivers crave touch. Disabled and aging adults get overlooked in sexual wellness campaigns, despite actively seeking comfort-focused, accessible products. Queer consumers facing loneliness, censorship and shrinking community spaces need brands that understand their real lives, not just seasonal rainbow messaging.
To remain resilient, the industry needs to expand its perspective. The question shouldn’t just be, “Who is most likely to buy a sex toy?” It should be, “Who needs to feel that relief, comfort, intimacy, affirmation and pleasure are within reach?” Asking that question will align marketing with today’s shoppers and the real world they are living in.
Meet Them Where They Are
Instead of depicting a vibrator as a luxury item, portray it as a way to unwind solo after a brutal workweek. Instead of treating lube as an add-on, emphasize comfort, ease and support for bodies experiencing menopause, medication changes, stress-related dryness or pain. Instead of offering random bundles, develop practical pleasure kits that feel useful and budget-friendly.
Education remains especially vital. As paid ads become riskier, algorithms tighten and digital censorship grows stricter, education stands out as one of the few reliable ways to build long-term trust. Helpful blogs, straightforward product guides, sexual wellness resources, accessibility-focused tutorials about value all help brands stay visible and relevant. This type of content does more than just improve SEO; it gives customers a reason to return, even when they’re being careful with their spending.
This is especially true for LGBTQ+-centric brands, which often face the harshest impact from digital suppression and policy changes. They are dealing not only with inflation or a crowded market but also with the combined effects of censorship, privacy worries and platforms that frequently treat queer and sexual expression as disposable. In that environment, maintaining direct relationships with the audience becomes even more crucial. This makes email marketing, loyalty programs, creator partnerships, community campaigns and strong educational content vital for survival.
Tone matters as well. Customers can tell when they are being marketed to by people who do not understand their lives. Vague language like “empowerment” or “spice things up” is easy to write but doesn’t explain why a burned-out customer should prioritize your product in their budget. Specific, human messaging performs better because it respects the emotional reality of the buyer. It says, “We know what you are dealing with, and we understand how this product fits into your real life.”
Value and Trust
The same principle should guide your pricing strategy. That’s not as simple as it may sound, however. In a shaky economy, being price-conscious doesn’t just mean searching for the cheapest option. People want clear value. A well-made product that solves a real problem, offers guidance and is tailored to their needs can still make a sale. The key is to be honest about what makes it worth buying. If a bundle is marketed as affordable self-care, it should genuinely be affordable and truly useful.
Small businesses might not be able to outspend larger competitors or dodge every legislative and platform obstacle, but real opportunity still exists if you are more precise, more empathetic, more inclusive and more trustworthy in the way you communicate with your audience. Remember: You have the ability to market to people who are often overlooked, and to speak directly to needs that bigger brands may fail to address.
Desire does not fade during tough times. Neither do loneliness, stress, curiosity or the need for comfort. The people looking for adult products are still out there. They might just need different words, better guidance and stronger reasons to trust your brand. Adult brands that understand this will be better positioned to weather the current headwinds — and come out stronger on the other side.
Hail Groo is the director of PR and marketing for Forward Approach Marketing, where they combine their background as a public historian with over a decade of expertise in diverse marketing fields. Groo is also a published travel writer, magazine contributor, podcast guest, award-winning photographer and Colorado-based journalist.
